Sam Mills, an undersized linebacker who became a Pro Bowl player with the New Orleans
Saints and Carolina Panthers and was later an assistant coach for the Panthers,
died Monday April 18th after fighting cancer for nearly two years, the Panthers
said. He was 45.

Mills, who was diagnosed with cancer of the
small intestine in August 2003 but continued to coach Carolina's linebackers between
chemotherapy treatments, died at his home.

"Sam was one of the
finest people you will ever meet. You would never know that he was a player who
made Pro Bowls and had all this attention because he treated everybody the same
no matter who they were," Carolina general manager Marty Hurney said. "He never
had a bad thing to say about anybody and had a great ability to laugh at himself.
"He was the type of guy you want your kids to grow up to be."

A
5-time Pro Bowl selection, Mills spent the final 3 seasons of his 12-year NFL
career with the Panthers, beginning with their inaugural season in 1995. There
is a statue of him outside Bank of America Stadium and he is the only player
in the team's Hall of Honor. Mike McCormack, Carolina's first team president, is
the only other inductee in the Hall.

"Words are inadequate to express
what Sam meant to the Panthers organization," Carolina owner Jerry Richardson
said. "We were privileged to have him as a member of our family, and we are
devastated over this loss."

Mills spent his first 9 NFL seasons with
the New Orleans Saints, following 3 seasons in the United States Football League.
He finished his career with 1,319 tackles while starting 173 of 181 games.

He
joined the Panthers' coaching staff upon his retirement. "He's definitely
the best coach I ever had," Panthers linebacker Will Witherspoon said.
"I got to talk to him the last couple of weeks and I knew that he wasn't doing
well, but he never wanted to bring that up. "He always wanted to focus on how
I was doing. There's nothing better than the fact that he concentrated more on
other people than he did himself."

Sam Mills was an undersized linebacker
out of Montclair State in New Jersey who tried, and failed several times
to catch on with NFL and Canadian Football League teams. He gave professional football
one last shot when the USFL debuted in 1983, and parlayed a tryout with
the Philadelphia Stars into a roster spot.

"The USFL came at a perfect
time for me," Mills, a 3-time All-USFL selection who helped the Stars win league
titles in 1983 and 1984, said in an interview in March. "It was the most
fun I ever had playing football."

Every day, Stars coach Jim Mora asked
his assistants who the best player on the field was. Every day, they told him
"Sam Mills." "I don't need a 5' 9" linebacker,"' Mora kept saying.

Mills
ended up as one of Mora's favorite players and when Mora went to the Saints
after the USFL's demise, he brought Mills with him in 1986. Mills went to
his first four Pro Bowls with the Saints and was elected to Louisiana's Sports
Hall of Fame. He is also a member of New Jersey's Sports Hall of Fame.

"Sam
was a member of the Saints family and the community here in New Orleans
and those times will be forever cherished and never forgotten," the Saints said
in a statement. "He was embraced not only by our organization but the whole community
who loved his spirit, his positive attitude and his drive and determination.
"He never backed away from a battle and took on each and every challenge
with the heart of a champion."

Sam Mills moved on to the Panthers in
1995 and figured prominently in the franchise's first win, against the New York
Jets on Oct. 15, 1995, at Clemson, SC, when he intercepted a shovel pass and
returned it 36 yards for a key touchdown. He led the team in tackles in 1995 and
1996, when the Panthers won the NFC West and made a surprise run to the NFC
title game.

Sam Mills was diagnosed with cancer in 2003, hours before
he showed up at the stadium to coach the Panthers' linebackers in their preseason
finale. It was a devastating blow to the team, which had learned 2 weeks earlier
that linebacker Mark Fields also had cancer.

Carolina restructured
its coaching duties the next week to take some of the responsibilities off
of Mills during his treatment. Originally given just a few months to live, Mills
battled the cancer and didn't miss a single game that season. He scheduled
treatment for off days to cut down on his time away from the team, and he often
had to coach from the press box that year to preserve his strength.

"The
club basically gave me the option as to how much I wanted to be around,"
Mills said. "Hey, I am a football coach. That is what I am. As long as I have the
power in me to go ahead and continue to coach, I'd like to continue to coach."
He was an inspiration to the team that season as Carolina won the NFC championship
and went on to the Super Bowl.

Players wore his No. 51, along
with Fields' 58, under their jerseys that season, and Mills gave an emotional
pregame speech during their playoff run.

He flew to Houston on the Thursday
before the Super Bowl, one day after a round of chemotherapy, and joined
Fields for a news conference. Sweating and holding on to the podium for balance,
he said "You have your good days and your bad days. I am just glad I am having
days, you know?"

Mills continued his treatment all of last season.
He was honored by the NFL in March with the Johnny Unitas Tops in Courage Award.

"Although
it can be said that he left his imprint on the NFL as
a player, it is his legacy as a human being that serves as an example for all
of us to follow," said Bill Kuharich, Kansas City's vice president of pro personnel,
who was with Mills with the Stars and Saints.

Mills is survived
by his wife, Melanie, and four children: Sons Sam III and Marcus and daughters
Larissa and Sierra.